Holi festival kicks off in India as Hindus dress up in bright clothes & chuck coloured powder to celebrate end of winter

THE annual Holi festival has kicked off in India as Hindus dress up in bright clothes and hurl coloured powder at each other to celebrate the end of winter. The raucous spring festival sees millions across the country take part in a kaleidoscopic celebration of the triumph of good over evil. The festivities peak on […]

THE annual Holi festival has kicked off in India as Hindus dress up in bright clothes and hurl coloured powder at each other to celebrate the end of winter.

The raucous spring festival sees millions across the country take part in a kaleidoscopic celebration of the triumph of good over evil.

AP

People cheer as colored powder and flower petals are thrown on them during celebrations in Ahmedabad, India[/caption]

AP

Coloured powder is smeared on the face of a reveller in Mumbai, India[/caption]

AP

People celebrate Holi in Jammu, India[/caption]

The festivities peak on Friday when a public holiday sees large street carnivals around the country.

The party started early in the northern city of Vrindavan, where elderly women daubed in splotches of saffron danced the day away together.

The Covid pandemic derailed last year’s Holi party, with the capital New Delhi and several states banning public gatherings.

The Holi festival is an annual Hindu celebration held in India, Nepal and South Asian countries and it is also known as the “festival of love” and the “festival of colours”.

Hindus celebrate by smearing coloured powder over one another, dancing under water sprinklers, and using water balloons and water guns.

It’s based on the legend of Krishna, who was self-conscious about the blue colour of his face, due to being poisoned by breast milk.

He was in despair because he believed Radha and other girls wouldn’t like him.

He told his mother, who advised him to paint his face so that his colour didn’t matter.

Now it is celebrated by thousands of people throwing paint around and getting covered in different colours.

After a day of play with colours, people clean up, wash and bathe, sober up and dress up in the evening and greet friends and relatives by visiting them and exchanging sweets.

Pictures show millions of revellers dancing in the streets, throwing coloured powder at each other and setting off brightly coloured flares in cities across India.

One image shows artists dressed as Lord Krishna and Goddess Radha dancing as they celebrate Holi at a temple in Amritsar, while another shows delighted children hurling coloured powder and playing with water balloons.

Reuters

Hindus pray as they are sprayed with coloured water during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India[/caption]

AP

People celebrate Holi in Jammu, India[/caption]

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A reveller smeared in coloured powder in Hyderabad, India[/caption]

AP

People smear coloured powder on a boy as they celebrate Holi in Jammu, India[/caption]

AFP

Revellers celebrate Holi in Chennai[/caption]

Reuters

A boy reacts as coloured powder is thrown on his head in Kolkata, India[/caption]

AP

People celebrate the Hindu festival of colours in Hyderabad, India[/caption]

Reuters

Celebrations in Kolkata, India[/caption]

AP

People celebrate Holi in Jammu, India[/caption]

Alamy

A girl celebrates the Holi festival in Mendhar area of Poonch[/caption]

EPA

Revellers stained with coloured powder cheer during the celebrations in Chennai, India[/caption]

AP

A man dances as he celebrates Holi in Jammu, India[/caption]

AFP

Artists dressed as Lord Krishna and Goddess Radha dance at a temple in Amritsar[/caption]